Making a Laminated Rifle Buttplate

In making an oversize buttplate for a target stock, I decided on a unique laminated style, and it turned out to be quite a good choice. All I had to do in getting started was to round up some flat pieces of plastic in three different colors and bond them together. I wanted the finished product to have a nice aesthetic quality, so I went with black as the inner and outer layers with a solid white and a transparent green layer sandwiched inside.

The green material was 3mm thick laminated to the 2mm-thick outer black piece. The 6mm-thick white piece was then positioned next to the inner black piece. This seemed to me to be the most attractive combination. Held against the light, you can actually see light pass through the entire thickness of the translucent green material. While the pieces I had on hand would have been sufficient to construct several buttplates, I made just the one to start with.

To bond the pieces together, I used Brownells Acra-Weld 3-minute epoxy. This adhesive resin sets clear and compresses to an ultra-thin layer. The finished thickness of the part is about 13mm or about 1/2 inch. I used a C-Clamp to compress the parts after the application of the bonding agent. As the adhesive material cures, a small, flat piece of board on each side helped to keep things flat. Before rough cutting the Far The finished product is both attractive and unique.

buttplate to size, it should be temporarily attached to the stock with counterbored screws. With the buttplate in position, I marked around the stock border, then removed the plate and carefully cut outside this mark in preparation for finishing the borders. Then, with it once again screwed to the rifle, I used a sharp bastard file to form the buttplate to size and a fine 220-grit finish paper to complete the job. I also rounded off the outer edge of the buttplate using the same file and sandpaper.

I used a little Birchwood Casey True- Oil on both the stock and the buttplate to complete the job. Soft recoil pads aren’t always necessary or desirable on target rifles where the buttplate is extra thick. Making your own can add a little class to the gun, as well as a measure of satisfaction. And the laminated type could be just the custom touch your customer is looking for, especially if he wishes to increase the length of the buttstock. I